Merry Christmas

Google Guide Quick Reference: Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet)

Google Guide Quick Reference: Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet)

Fight Fight Fight!

Fight For Peace!

Kayak.com

If you haven't tried finding flights, hotel rooms and rental cars with Kayak.com, it's worth looking at, especially from an interface design standpoint. I really like the way you can stop your search when you get enough results to satisfy your search.
(http://www.kayak.com/)

Skype

Are any of you signed up, and using Skype?
I want to do some testing and friends that are farther away, all the better.
Let me know.

Victory can be ours!

Comment Verification turned on

Hi All,
Well, the spam has finally got to me, and instead of spending my time deleting the stupid comments and ads, I've turned on word verification.
Those of you who comment on blogs will know what I mean.

Still more ways to waste your hard earned money

Last Minute Auctions lists every item on E-Bay under a dollar, and over in less than an hour.
Start buying usless crap NOW!
(http://www.lastminute-auction.com/)

The Beatles' christmas records!

Nice site devoted to the Beatles Fan club releases.
The Beatles' christmas Records

Originals project

My friend Dick Rosemont has moved his amazingly extensive database of original recording information online. Basically, the site is devoted to finding the original artist of a popular song that was possibly made famous by someone else. You probably know that "Hound Dog" was first recorded by Big Mama Thornton and "Take Me To the River" is an Al Green original, not Talking Heads. Dick, however, has uncovered some real interesting finds. As an example, here are my top 5 "weird Originals"

1) "Magic Bus" originally done by Pudding (The Who)

2) "In The Ghetto" Sammy Davis Junior (Elvis)

3) "Just Dropped In (to See What Condition my Condition..) Jerry Lee Lewis (!) (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition)

4) "Am I The Same Girl?" Barbara Acklin (better known as "Soulful Strut" and as an instrumental)

5) "I'm Henry the VIII" Harry Champion (I guess I knew this was a cover, but what's really interesting is that it was first recorded in 1911!)

Have some fun looking at all the titles:
The Originals Project
(http://www.originalsproject.com/)

To do this week: 1) Promote New movie 2) Remember to Duck

Whenever I see a picture of this dude, I can't help but think of the time I worked at the Michigan Avenue Borders store in Chicago.
During one strange week, Downey came in every night and hung around until we closed. He sort of befriended some of the staff members and we all thought it was pretty cool, until about Thursday, when the whole thing got old fast.

A Christmas Story: 30 seconds long, performed by bunnies

http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory/

Ow, my Nose!

Brady Bunch Kung Fu

USB Digital Bible

I don't know if you'd want to exchange this one (see previous post below) since it's about $30.
It's kind of cool, though
USB Digital Bible

More Music, More Music

Pandora, from the Music Genome Project, seems to be getting better in choosing music I like based on a couple of song choices.
Based on a search for Nick Lowe, here's the tunes it played:
“Cruel to be Kind” Nick Lowe

“Vanishing Girl” Dukes of Stratosphear

“Picture Book” The Kinks

“Earn Enough for Us” XTC

“Fanfare” Mark Geary

"Breakup in Barcelona" Joe Algeri

"So It Goes" Nick Lowe

"He'd Be A Diamond" The Bevis Frond

I liked everything except the tune by Joe Algeri so it was pretty good in guessing what I'd like and wouldn't like.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.
(http://www.pandora.com/)

Christmas Lists - Christmas Music At Randy's Rodeo

Randy's Rodeo has a great collection of Christmas lists--along with a wishlist of itmes that puts mine to shame! Be sure and check out the MP3s of some weird and rare Christmas classics.
(http://www.randysrodeo.com/christmas/lists/index.php)

Atheist group offers free porn in exchange for Bibles

Atheist Agenda, an atheist group at U Texas San Antonio, staged a "Porno for Bibles" event, where they gave free pornography to people who traded in religious scripture.

The Gaper Delay That Likes To Say Yes.

or how 'bout:
Pardon Me, Do You Have Any Grey Gaper Delay?
Get Serious. Get Gaper Delay.
Gonna Be a While? Grab a Gaper Delay.

The Advertising Slogan Generator

More Radio Spots

This one is even better:
Radio promo spots advertising some of the sleaziest films you never saw:
Now a Word From Our Scumbag Sponsor

Skinny Robbie's Blog: Halloween

Couple of MP3-related posts today. Here's a link to over 100 radio spots for Spooky, scary movies like Monsters Crash the Pajama Party and Frogs (channel Mark Deming's character in Robert Altman's A Wedding when you hear this one...)
http://skinnyrobbie.blogspot.com/2005/10/halloween.html

Librarian puts squirrel over job

Nothing real outrageous here; I just like the headline:
Librarian puts squirrel over job

Mistletunes

Far from complete, though it's great fun to sift through the various genres. I especially like the attention paid to little-known local releases.

Mistletunes

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Now, you probably know that me and my brother Bruce have been collecting Christmas music for quite a while. Bruce's collection is mostly CDs while mine tends to be 45s and LPs of the vinyl persuasion.
Anyway, I'm going to be posting a couple of sites here and there, both to hip you to all the wild Christmas music out there, and to serve as a backup to my own bookmarks.
JM

Let them sing it for you!

Type in your phrase and this website will sing back your words, culled from popular songs!
http://www.sr.se/p1/src/sing/index.htm

It's "This Diamond Ring" for Me

or "Tired of Waiting for You" by the Kinks, if you look at the UK chart (which is much cooler than Gary Lewis and the Playboys).

What was the #1 song on the day you were born?

(http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/member/birthdayno1.php)

What happens to you when you write the worst song about rock and roll ever?

This is what happens.

One Word Movie (onewordmovie)

The name says it all:
One Word Movie
I've only tried 'guitar' and 'library.'
Anyone else tried something interesting?

Another Great Video

Stay home and watch:
The KILL SHOT

Interesting Video

The Great Conspiracy - Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6529813972926262623

Finish up that Xmas gift list in no-time flat

Be the life of the party when you show up at the Office Christmas get-together with something like this from Fiendish Curiosities

Hey, Momma, Look At Me!

I'm on my way to the Promised Land!

Cigar Box Guitars, Cymbaloms, and a LEGO Harpsichord

The Oddmusic Instrument Gallery hosts pictures and audio files of some of the strangest instruments you've ever seen.
(http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/)

Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

UC Santa Barbara has digitized over 5,000 wax cylinders from the late 19th and early 20th Century and put them online.
(http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/)

MIT students research Aluminum hat effectiveness

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets:
An Empirical Study

Book just finished

On the way out to California Tuesday, I finished Chuck Palahniuk's newest,
Haunted.
Now, I'm a big fan of Fight Club, but this one was a bit dissapointing. I thought several of the stories had promise but the ending just fell flat.
Anyone else want to weigh in?

Online Coupons

Check out Smarter.com's Coupon section before buying something online. Here, you can find those online coupons and discounts used to score money off your purchase.

(http://coupons.smarter.com/)

The 100 Best Products of 2005

PC World names its 100 Best Products of 2005

Night table reading

Behind Bars: Surviving Prison

Giant Drinking Birds

This is too much.

D R I N K I N G B I R D S.COM

Night Music with Jools Holland & David Sanborn

I'm posting this in hopes someone sees this and lets me know if there are any copies of this great show floating around. Do you guys remember it? I want to say it was on late night on Sunday, and featured a variety of musicians, all playing together. The combinations were always way out there, but the music was fabulous. I'm thinking Hal Wilner had something to do with it.
Does anyone have copies of this show?

Bible, US Census, Mother Goose, Divine Comedy

OCLC lists the top 1000 items (books is to general a topic) held by libraries around the world:
OCLC Top 1,000

Jesus Poker Chips

Please let me know if Caesars Palace or the Golden Nugget are accepting these:
Jesus Poker Chips

Tons of '80s 7" picture sleeves

Endless Groove hosts a gallery of New Wave Singles
(http://www.endlessgroove.com/issue6/front6.htm)

Food (?)

Steve eats all sorts of stuff:
http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php

A whole month?

Man, has it really been a whole month since I posted? What's wrong with you people? How come someone didn't wake me up when the alarm was supposed to go off?
Jeez, OK, I'll get something up right away.

Christmas is coming,

and what a perfect gift this would make:

Pets in Uniform

The Rope Feeling*

You know that friend you have that is totally funny all the time? He or she

(...though I'm betting it's a he; women aren't so insecure that they have to constantly reaffirm their identity by making jokes all the time...)

is a lot of fun to be around, and you find yourself laughing and laughing when they're around.
Maybe you're lucky and you're close to two or three of these people.
Maybe YOU are that person (more likely you think you're that person but it's really Bob. Get over it.)
When I hear a comedian on television or on the radio, it's rare that I feel this same connection. I mean, there are plenty of people I find funny (Chris Rock, David Letterman 15 years ago, anything Christopher Guest and company does) but there exists a disconnect between me and them, and I can't imagine them being my friend--or at least they're not funny in the same way my "funny" friends are.
There are two exceptions to this:
The first is David Cross
and the second is Paul Feig.

I just finished reading SUPERSTUD, and it is at both times laugh-out-loud funny and a brutal, self-deprecating look at love, sex, and relationships and how they affect you in your late teens and early twenties. I cannot imagine being this honest about my own experiences out loud to my most trusted friend, let alone submitting it to Three Rivers Press for publication.
For those of you who happened to grow up in Michigan in the late '70s - early '80s, it will hit home on a much greater level. While reading this, I truly felt like I was having one of those late night conversations with a friend or mine. I'm guessing this is partly because Paul Feig and I are pretty close in age, grew up in lower Michigan about the same time, and therefore have almost all the same cultural references to draw on.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who has read his stuff and finds it funny, yet didn't wait outside the Silverdome to see The Who, The Clash, and Eddie Money in '82.



*That Rope Feeling? You'll have to read the book to find out. It's worse than you think.

Who's got time for hobbies like this?

Burning Man

Huge Collection of photos, videos, and text, detailing Burning Man:
My Experiences at Burning Man
Here's 2005, with 2800+ photos

If You Ain't Dutch, You Ain't Much

Dutch drum maestro Han Bennink wears wooden shoes and plays a drumkit made of cheese:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/squiddity-of-toronto/sets/471003/

ASCII Generator

Hey! Want to be cool like those IT guys? Want to end each e-mail you send with an ultra hip sig?
Go to the ASCII Generator

....beneath the haunted moon for fear that daybreak might come too soon

Where the banshees live and they do live well

Worst Rock Interviews

The Independent UK list of the Worst Interviews in Rock EVER!

TheRawker.com: Get Ready To RAWK!!!!

(Thanks to Fred Clutter for the link)
TheRawker.com: Get Ready To RAWK!!!!

Time Waster

Mr. PicassoHead

Coolest Campers ever

8' and 10' Cubby Trailers

Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena

Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena

Very strange Fraternal Supply Catalog

A Catalog of Pranks for Fraternal Organization Initiates:
The 1930 DeMoulin Bros. & Co. Fraternal Supply Catalog No. 439

Man, do I love Found Magazine!

Much, much more here...

Masters of Deception

A very interesting art book in its own right, the website companion features numerous movies of the artists and their art:

Masters of Deception

Hours of Fun!

Let me know if you ever get to an end with this:
http://www.vectorpark.com/levers.html

The Shirt

Dollar bill to shirt

Chemistry Quiz

What do you get when you combine copper gluconate and hydrogenated cottonseed oil?
First one to answer in the comments wins some sort of prize.

Vertigo...Then and Now

Before and after images of various San Francisco locations used in Alfred Hitchcock's film, Vertigo
Vertigo...Then and Now

Very Nice 2-D driving sim

How is he doing this with only 333K?
DRIVEY: a road slightly less travelled

Word Palindrome Poem

Red, Shimmering Red by Mike Maguire
(from Drawn Inward and Other Poems)

Crying men
seeing blood of warriors
painting red a field.
This war is life,
all struggling men
feel pain of angels
and angels of pain
feel men struggling.

All life is war.
This field, a red painting,
warriors of blood
seeing men crying.


Red, Shimmering Red

A man, a plan, a canal: Panama

Sorry, didn't have time for an original palindrome; my favorite has to suffice.
Nick Monfort and William Gillespie, however, had plenty of time to concoct a 2002 word palindrome in 2002:

2002: a Palindrome Story
This would be a great book to have lying around just to impress your friends and neighbors. It's now on my wish list.

Handy when one of your keyboard letters sticks

So the wordplay book listed below is directly related to this book: Gadsby, by Earnest Vincent Wright. Mr. Wright wrote the entire 50,000 word novel without EVER USING THE LETTER "E!!!"
Here's a copy of the book posted online:
Gadsby

Bunch of books to consider

I have a bunch of new titles to share, all having to do with words, the alphabet, and the way one can manipulate both.
First, we have this:


Making the Alphabet Dance: Recreational Wordplay

Rack-Mounted Nintendo!

Perfect for the retro game lovin' musician that's always on the road
Rack-Mounted Nintendo

Google Maps on iPod Photo

Google Maps on iPod Photo

Oblique Strategies

I've never heard of these before but am now very intrigued: Brian Eno and the painter Peter Schmidt created a set of over 100 cards with various aphorisms printed on them, with the intention of choosing a card at random and doing what it says, when faced with a situation where creativity is stifled.
I guess there are several versions out there. Perhaps a look on E-Bay would show a couple of sets for sale.
A Primer On Oblique Strategizing

The Video that Never Was

Lucy in the Sky with Shatner

More Night-Table Reading

This looks kind of interesting:

The Pirates and the Mouse: Disney's War Against the Counterculture

Dan Clowes Article in the Guardian

Guardian Unlimited Books | A comic book hero

The Image Says It All

Unfortunate Childrens Books

Incoming call from J. Daniels

Cell Phone Flask
with leather case

Open source Internet Video viewer

(From Boing-Boing)
"OpenVision is an open source Mac/Windows application for finding, downloading and viewing video, not unlike the Downhill Battle player."

ONTV: Ideas Through Digital Content

Night Table Reading: On Deck

World War 3.0 : Microsoft and Its Enemies

Night Table Reading: On Deck

Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters: What I Learned in Ten Years As a Microsoft Programmer

iPod, FishPod, what's the diff?

Hanging Fish Pod from Postmodern Pets

I Got No Car, And it's breaking my heart

If I lived in a bigger city, I'd ditch the Volvo and do this:
CarSharing Network

Whether You have Kids or Pets or neither

IFILM - Viral Videos: Casey Kasem's Death Dedication

To Serve Man

The Museum of Food Anomalies™

The Generator Blog

The Generator Blog

Fear on SNL

I've heard about this show many times but have never seen a clip before.

dressed for the h bomb: Fear

Plan 9 From Outer Space

Ed Wood's masterpiece, in its entirety, available for downloading.
Illegal?
Nope, just another example of Public Domain!
Internet Archive: Plan 9 From Outer Space

Perfect for the Employee Fridge

The good news is that I don't need this where I work but maybe you're not so lucky. Also good for lousy roommates.
Pint Lock

That's not a knife: This is a knife

Be sure to watch the video.
Then, memorize this guy's face 'cause he's coming for you.

Worlds fastest knife, custom belt buckle knives

Blog devoted to Google Maps Hacks

Tons of interesting uses for the Google Maps API:
Google Maps Mania
(http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/)

No Post; just like the look of this graphic

Drummers of the World, you are not alone

Not alone in the sense that you're easily replaced by a machine. Look who's next:

Crazy J (From Georgia Tech's Robotics lab)

So we get Crazy J and P.E.A.R.T. together and we've got a robotic tribute to the Flat Duo Jets!


(What's that? Oh, you thought I'd say The White Stripes? Yeah, well that's too easy, isn't it? ...And I don't dig that new stuff the kids listen to.)

House of Cosbys

A Cautionary Tale about cloning Bill Cosby:
House of Cosbys

Big Star Bio

Over the Fourth of July holiday I had the chance to ride back alone from Ludington on the SS Badger. The four hour ride allowed me to finish a great biography of the band, Big Star:

Big Star : The Short Life, Painful Death, and Unexpected Resurrection of the Kings of Power Pop
The most revealing fact I learned was that Big Star played 5 NIGHTS in Lansing during their 1975 tour, which, for the most part, had very few dates at all. Who got to see these shows? Evidently, there's a write-up in the State News that's very positive. Next time I'm in Lansing, I'm going to try and find it in the MSU archives.

In the Nightstand Bullpen

The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank

Your Band Sucks

(Source of the elf band pic)
The good news: I'm not there.
The bad news: I'm not there yet.

Rock And Roll Confidential | Your Band Sucks

Cookies, Toys, or Tolkien?

No matter how much any band I've ever played with sucked, they didn't suck as much as


Elvendrums

Online Public Radio Guide

PublicRadioFan.com

Where are all the Waffles?

What the Hell did you do with the waffles?

Today's Rotation

1) “Change Is An Engine” – Savoy Grand
2) “Across the Universe” – The Beatles
3) “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” – Bob Dylan
4) “Pretty” – The Raincoats
5) “Six and Seven Books of Moses” – Toots and the Maytals
6) “Noa-Noa” – Moacyr Piexoto
7) “What is Love?” – Anthony Quinn
8) “Someday, Someway” – Marshall Crenshaw
9) “Viva Las Vegas” – Bruce Springsteen
10) “Blue Groove” – Sir Isaac & The Do-Dads
11) “Something Happens to Me” – Blossom Dearie
12) “Dead” – They Might Be Giants
13) “I’m A Greedy Man” – James Brown
14) “Eddie, You Should Know Better” – Curtis Mayfield
15) “Unsatisfied” – The Replacements
16) “The Look of Love” – Richard “Moog” Hayman
17) ”I Play The Drums” – The Skeletons
18) “Monkey” – Low
19) “Thirteen” – Big Star
20) “First Year Blues” – Hank Williams

Also on the Night Stand

The movie? A little disappointing, but maybe my anticipation was out of line. I just didn't think it was worthy of a Best Picture nomination.

Sideways : A Novel

However, This is pretty good so far.

On the Night Stand

Just got this today and already I can't put it down:

Found : The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World
by Davy Rothbart

Dodge Veg-a-matic, there in the Parking Lot

The other guy mentioned in this article, Les Gripkey, and I used to corrospond on the Jonathan mailing list, back when there were, like, four Jonathan fans on the internet.
Fill your tank with vegetable oil

Today's Rotation

Stop me if you've heard this one...

1. “Money Changes Everything” – The Brains
2. “Robot Riot” - Frenzy
3. “On Joey Ramone” – Jello Biafra
4. “One Dime Blues” – Blind Lemon Jefferson
5. “Hip Hug-Her” – Booker T. & The MG’s
6. “Tattoo” – Pete Townshend (From the Oceanic Concerts)
7. “Poison Years” – Bob Mould
8. “If I Were A Rich Man” – Magnetic Fields
9. “Crabwalking” – Prince Jazzbo
10. “The Man I Love” – Miles Davis
11. “Desparecere” – Deerhoof
12. “The Sport (Part One)” – Steven Jesse Bernstein
13. “True Love” – Elvis Presley
14. “Love’s Been Gone So Long” – Tower of Power
15. “Blackhole” – Beck
16. “Portobello Road” – Cat Stevens
17. “Letterbomb” – Green Day
18. “The Weight” – Aretha Franklin
19. “Gloria in Excelsis” – Pond
20. “Minnie The Moocher” - Cab Calloway

Why I never have to carry my Palm Pilot again

More Podcast Directories

Don't bother with the Air America links; use the previous post instead.
Podcast Directory: PublicRadioFeeds.com

Air America Podcasts

Index of /air_america/podcast_feeds

When you're really ready to stick it to the Man,

You make your own Coke.
Check out OpenCola for how to roll your own carbonated beverage:
Open Cola Recipe

Hot or Not for Kittens

kittenwar.com

- .- -.- . / - .... .- - / .-- .... .. .--. .--. . .-. ... -. .- .--. .--. . .-.

MAKE: Blog: Video: Morse coders beating SMSers

#1 Art Fan

I've always thought that Brian Eno was a pretty interesting guy, and have enjoyed his take on Ambiant Music, his work with Roxy Music, etc., but this story is fascinating:

Brian Eno (idea)@Everything2.com

Comparing Public Papers of the Presidents

Ah, I could comment on this but the picture does much, much more than any pithy diatribe I could make:
Comparing Public Papers of the Presidents

WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Recordings Of Champion Livestock Auctioneers

A remarkable collection of auctioneers doing what they do best: rapid-fire sing-song talking, all in order to get the best price on a heifer:
WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Recordings Of Champion Livestock Auctioneers

Interesting Article about USENET

What's old is new:
Wired News: Want the Sith DVD? Go to Usenet

Lulu, ABBA, Katrina & The Waves, A-ha; What's not to like?

Europeans Under Spell of Eurovision

Gas prices around the country

The results of daily surveys (via credit card transactions) of more than 60,000 self-serve gas stations in the U.S. are posted here courtesy of the American Automobile Association (AAA). Find national, state, and metropolitan area prices for regular, premium, and diesel fuel. Also lists price yesterday, a month, and a year ago as well as highest recorded price for regular unleaded and diesel.

AAA Fuel Gauge Report

E-Book Source

Scotland's Sunday Herald offers a series of e-books for free every month:

The Sunday Herald -E-Books

Today's Rotation

1. “Have Love, Will Travel” – Thee Headcoatees
2. “Jimmy Carter” – Electric Six
3. “Worried Mind” – Ray Charles
4. “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” – Jim Nabors
5. “Happy Birthday” – Pizzicato Five
6. “Hey Kids” – Tony Rivers
7. “Hard Time Killing Floor” – R.L. Burnside
8. “No Place For You” – Paul Westerberg
9. “S’ Wonderful” – Joe Williams
10. “Queen of Hearts” – Dave Edmunds
11. “Don’t You Push Me Down” – Taj Mahal
12. “Margaret” – The Silos
13. “Roses While I’m Living” – Charlie Parr
14. “Radiohead” – Wesley Willis
15. “Let Me Kiss You” – Morrissey
16. “Oh, Streetcar!: The Musical” – The Simpsons
17. “Brassneck” – The Wedding Present
18. “It Comes to Me Naturally” – NRBQ
19. “Homecoming” - Joe Henry
20. “You For Me” – Blossom Dearie

Yahoo! RSS Feeds

A List of RSS feeds provided by Yahoo!
Yahoo! Search Web Services

Visual Represnetation of World News

Of interest to 99.999% of the people outside of the US.

Of interest to .0001% of the people who live in the US and are aware that there’s a great big world out there, and things other than Nick and Jessica breaking up are happening.


buzztracker

Best Cell phone Ever

Here is the coolest cellphone out there:

The only catch is the thing is $400!

Portable Rotary Phone : Spark Fun Electronics